Budget hotels platform NIDA Rooms announced today that it has secured US$5.6 million in its series A fundraising round led by private investment firm Shanda Group along with participation from other Southeast Asian investors.
Commenting on the investment, Robert Chiu, the president of Shanda Group said, “NIDA Rooms has caught our attention as they have developed a business model that enables the company to quickly build a highly scalable platform with a strong brand, by effectively addressing the needs of travelers and local hotels in the fragmented, less digitalised yet large and rapidly growing economy hotel sector in Southeast Asia.”
Following this financing round, NIDA Room’s total investment capital has accumulated to US$11 million in which the company claims to be the best-capitalised business in its segment in the region.
Commenting on the development, Kaneswaran Avili, the CEO and co-founder of NIDA Rooms said, “We are pleased to have Shanda’s support given their track record of building strong digital businesses. Their expertise will help further our mission of becoming a regional leader in the economy accommodation industry.”
With the new funding, NIDA Rooms plan to focus on customer experience, enhance technology, and build algorithms to help increase revenue for hotel partners, in addition to exploring the feasibility of franchising an entire hotel.
Founded in September 2015, NIDA Rooms is a convenient booking system which enables users to find affordable, quality accommodation in locations across Southeast Asia while increasing occupancy and revenues in its 4,000 participating hotel partners.
NIDA Rooms is similar to India’s OYO Rooms and faces direct regional competition from Rocket Internet’s ZEN Rooms. The company, however, claims to be the biggest branded business economy hotel room network in Southeast Asia, having partners in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, as well as a slated launch in Singapore.
Prior to this, NIDA Rooms has secured US$4.2 million in its pre-series A in April 2016, whereby Convergence Ventures and CyberAgent Ventures has led the round, which was facilitated by an independent advisor – Emergebridge.
The company is looking at turning profitability early next year. “But it depends on if we are going to expand further. Are we going to invest much more to get much better penetration?” said Avili.
He explained that strategies aimed at growing a stronger network or grabbing larger market-share could push back NIDA Room’s profitability timeline.
NIDA Rooms is available on both iOS and Android and its rooms can also be found on online booking platforms like Expedia or Booking.com.
By Vivian Foo, VCNewsNetwork
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